Upward Bound Siskiyou County Students Experience Big City on Trip

REDDING, Calif.—Simpson University staff members working for Upward Bound took 31 Siskiyou County high school students to visit college campuses, the state Capitol, and a museum during Veterans Day weekend.

The trip was part of the federally funded Upward Bound program overseen by the university in partnership with College OPTIONS Inc. Simpson University was awarded a $5 million grant in 2017 to administer the program, which helps high school students from low-income families and families where neither parent has earned a college degree to prepare for college entrance.

The students, from Mount Shasta and Dunsmuir high schools, visited California State University, Sacramento, and the state capitol, as well as the University of San Francisco and the California Academy of Sciences. They were accompanied by Jeanine Masciola and Kevin Luce, Upward Bound advisers for Mount Shasta and Dunsmuir, respectively.

“Many of my students had never been to a big city like San Francisco before,” Masciola said. “It was not just an academic experience, but also a new cultural experience for these students. They had an opportunity to see what life is like beyond the smaller, more rural community in which they live. For some, this trip may have been the first time they have considered going to college or seeking a career that involved relocation to a big city. This trip expanded their world-view in a very real way.”

In addition to the two Siskiyou County schools, the Upward Bound program also works with students at West Valley and Anderson high schools. During the summer, approximately 150 students from all four schools stayed in Simpson University residence halls and attended educational sessions designed to give them a taste of college life.

Upward Bound staff members share an office on Simpson’s campus with employees for GEAR UP, another federally funded, multi-year program that works with more than 800 students in 10 middle schools and nine high schools in Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity and Modoc counties. Simpson was awarded a seven-year, $4.8 million grant to administer the GEAR UP program.

This fall, GEAR UP advisers took more than 130 students from Butte Valley, Burney, Los Molinos, and Trinity County on trips to visit College of the Siskiyous, University of California, Davis, Simpson University, and Chico State University.

Between Upward Bound and GEAR UP, Simpson University has the opportunity to impact an estimated 1,000 North State students and their families by working with them toward higher education and career training.

Top photo: Upward Bound Siskiyou County students visit the Golden Gate Park Observatory of Flowers. Middle: Students visit the California Academy of Sciences.